Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Division of Frontier Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan.
Department of Dental Anesthesiology, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2017 Jun 7;7(1):3003. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-03522-1.
Complex relationships between depression and chronic pain have been reported in previous studies. However, only a few neuroimaging studies have investigated similarities and differences in neural systems underlying them. We examined the brain functions in the resting state of 43 patients with depression, 41 patients with chronic pain (somatoform pain disorder) and 41 healthy controls, by using regional homogeneity (ReHo) and functional connectivity analysis. Depressive symptoms were assessed by using the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II). ReHo values for the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) significantly decreased for chronic pain patients, and functional connectivity between the DLPFC and thalamus decreased only for these patients. These findings are indicative of distinct brain functions related to depression and chronic pain. Understanding these differences would further elucidate the pathophysiology of these conditions.
先前的研究报告指出，抑郁和慢性疼痛之间存在复杂的关系。然而，只有少数神经影像学研究调查了它们所基于的神经系统的相似之处和不同之处。我们通过使用局部一致性（ReHo）和功能连接分析，检查了 43 名抑郁症患者、41 名慢性疼痛患者（躯体形式疼痛障碍）和 41 名健康对照者的静息状态下的大脑功能。使用贝克抑郁量表第二版（BDI-II）评估抑郁症状。慢性疼痛患者的背外侧前额叶皮层（DLPFC）的 ReHo 值显著降低，而 DLPFC 和丘脑之间的功能连接仅在这些患者中降低。这些发现表明与抑郁和慢性疼痛相关的大脑功能存在差异。了解这些差异将进一步阐明这些疾病的病理生理学。
